New research shows that healthy forests on Indigenous lands across the Amazon rainforest are helping to reduce the spread of 27 different diseases that threaten the region’s 33 million people. The study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed 20 years of health data from 1,733 municipalities across eight Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guiana. These areas represent more than 74% of the entire Amazon region. Researchers found that areas closer to well-maintained forests on Indigenous territories experienced fewer cases of two major disease categories: heart and lung problems caused by forest … Continue reading Indigenous Amazon Forests Block 27 Diseases Affecting 33M People, IUCN Study Shows